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Best Trails

Evergreen, CO

This candy wrapper style loop trail, located near Evergreen, CO, will take you past 2 small water falls and Upper Maxwell Falls if you do the whole loop. This is a easy to moderate trail with only a minor elevation gain of 644 ft.

Morrison, CO

Recent Reviews

My favorite alpine wildflower hike yet! This trail is spectacular and even if you don't make it to the lake, the flowers along the way are a major highlight if you go at the right time. We just did this yesterday - July 27, 2015. The flowers were abundant and so many varieties. I have never seen so much variety and so many flowers on any hike.
The directions I got from this site were pretty good to get us there. Note that Guenella Pass is under construction until fall of 2015. They close the road throughout the day so precise planning is necessary. You can call 303-679-2422 for more info. We had to wait 40 minutes to be escorted to the turnoff.
The road/turn off to SR119 is marked with a small sign to Geneva C.G. about 6.5 miles north of Grant on Guanella Pass. Once you make the turn you will veer to the right where it splits (left goes into the campground and makes a loop). The road is rough and I do recommend high clearance vehicle. The black pile of rocks that people refer to is a large pile of small black rocks that look like a truck dumped there. There are a few parking spots right in this area. If you are standing on the road looking at the pile of rocks, the trailhead sign will be to your right.
The trail climbs pretty steady for the first 800-900 feet through the trees with several stream crossings. Not bad at this time of year. After this initial climb, it levels out to a more gentle climb through more trees and you will start to see flowers and more stream crossings. The final stream crossing is where you come out of the trees and get your first view of the basin. There are logs to help cross this part. Then you are in the open tundra. Follow the trail as it winds around to the left and just when you think you are almost there, it starts to climb again to the left. This climb is about 600-700 feet.
The total elevation gain is correct from the description - 1852 vertical feet. The distance I might argue would be just a tad more. I'd say it's more like 3.5-4 miles one way.
I will make this hike a regular/annual trip... well worth it and lived up to all the hype! I've got photos that made all my friends envious! They are posted on my FB page listed here.

This trail seems more like a segment of the Payne Creek Trail as it crosses the Craig Meadows. This was a good hike overall. I took the CO Trail Segment 4 to The Payne Creek Trail down into the meadows.

I took the Payne Creek Trail from the CO Trail segment 4 down to Craig Meadows. This was a good hike, I took the trail to the west end of the meadows (I was coming from the east), and then backtracked to where the campsites are on the east side of the meadows.

The trail east of the meadows is nice, a little up and down, some considerable vert in a short distance, but nothing too bad. Some nice creek crossings.

I camped at the confluence of the Craig Creek, and the Bluestem Draw. There are some nice pine forest campsites, and some down in the meadow. With the best one in the meadow being just after you cross the Craig Creek coming from the east. On my track I marked all 4 campsites I found on the hike.

Hiked the trail because the Guanella Pass Rd was closed for construction. So we couldn't make it to Sq Top Mt. Nice mellow trail with enough 'UP' to keep the heart pumping. The stream was the trail in a couple of places. Few other hikers but LOTS of beautiful flowers. Haven't hiked this trail in a looong time.

Completed this trail on 7/11/15. 100% free of snow. The only time the trail was wet was near the end, above treeline.
AllTrails claims this is in Bailey, but it's actually Grant. Also, my phone clocked this at 4.2 miles one way, not 3.2. I would call this moderate, with the last half mile being difficult. There are several rivers to be crossed and lots of wildflowers and views. It was gorgeous.
We saw a few campsites along the way, I would love to backpack up here some time. Definitely recommend it!

Loved the trail. I would not rate it as difficult. Moderate yes. I made it to the Wilderness Box and filled out my first permit only to find a tree had fallen across the trail. I took it as a sign to head back. Total trip 9 miles. It was beautiful. The flowers and so many butterflies. The creek was cool. I crossed it 3 times. One time was a little ify but found a large log for me to cross while my dog just jumped right over. Lol. Not many people on the trail. Nice if you want a little solitude with occasional hiker along the way! Really enjoyed.

Wet. Green! The trail is pretty well maintained for wilderness, I'd say. Considering the nature of the trail, it was arduous heading up. Just be ready, and you'll have a marvelous time. There is a good deal of melt occurring. Be sure to note how the afternoon heat can impact that runoff.